The Hindu : Front Page : NSG dog unit to replace Labradors with Cocker Spaniels

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Saturday, Oct 17, 2009
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NSG dog unit to replace Labradors with Cocker Spaniels

Ashok Kumar

MANESAR: Labrador, the only breed of dogs trusted by the National Security Guard (NSG) commandos for detection of explosives during operations, may soon be replaced by a smaller and lighter breed for search operations in aircraft.

In a pioneering effort, the NSG dog unit has been imparting training to two 10-month-old Cocker Spaniels for carrying out explosives search operations in the congested space inside an aircraft. The dogs — Casper and Bruno — have already undergone four-month training and are expected to be inducted into the dog squad by the middle of next year.

“Pilots would often complain about the controls of the aircraft being disturbed by the wagging tail and long extremities of the Labradors during search operations. Also, the dog, because of its size, was not able to reach the baggage area, although improvisations were made with the help of a ladder. But the dog faced difficulty in sitting on the ladder and sniffing out explosives,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Devender, Officer-Commanding of the dog squad.

Obedience training

After a lot of deliberations, the NSG dog unit came up with the idea of training a small dog for the purpose and short-listed five small breeds before choosing Cocker Spaniels, also called “Merry Cocker” for its happy disposition and continuous tail wagging.

“The two dogs were procured for about Rs.15,000 each from Delhi and put to 12 weeks of obedience training. This was followed by training for detection of explosives. A trainer usually spends more than eight hours a day on the training, feeding and grooming of these dogs.

“We have also designed a carrying device called “the dog handle” so that the dogs can be carried like an instrument inside the aircraft and raised to cabin baggage and other high reaching inaccessible areas where a Labrador could not reach. The Cocker Spaniels weighing around 12-15 kg and with a height of 15-17 inches are far more easy to carry compared with the 24 inch-high Labrador with an average weight of over 35 kg,” said Lt. Col. Jagdish, Squadron Commander of the unit.

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